Prank or Juror Misconduct at NY v. Trump Trial? READ: Judge Letter to Attorneys about Facebook Post Previewing Jury Verdict

DID JUROR SPEAK WITH A RELATIVE ABOUT THE TRUMP TRIAL OR IS THIS FROM AN ONLINE TROLL? Today, NY judge Merchan notified Trump defense lawyers and prosecutors about a comment on the court’s Facebook page revealing the jury’s guilty verdict a day before Trump was convicted. According to acting judge Merchan, the user, “Michael Anderson,” stated: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted [ ] Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!! [ ].”

New York v. Trump Trial on Monday, May 20, 2024. (Photo: Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP)

PRANK? Latest report: – HuffPost says the post’s “author claims to be a “professional s**t poster”: HuffPost was unable to find the comment quoted by the judge. However, a similar comment was posted by someone with the same name on May 29, the day before the jury returned its historic guilty verdict[.] “My cousin is a juror on Trumps criminal case and they’re going to convict him tomorrow according to her,” the comment read, on an unrelated post from the New York State Unified Court System. The commenter’s profile claims he is a “professional shit poster.” JURY MISCONDUCT? Earlier today: – NBC: Judge in Trump’s hush money case raises questions about social media post appearing to preview jury verdict: “Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention,” Judge Juan Merchan wrote in a letter dated Friday. … NBC News has not verified the claims made in the comment or the identity of the user who published the post, which has since been deleted. READ THE JUDGE’S LETTER Via NY Court: Letter PDF | Archive Letter from acting judge Juan Merchan to Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche and prosecutor ADA Joshua Steinglass dated June 7, 2024: R.e: People v. Trump, Ind. No. 71543-2023 Dear Counsel: Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention. In the comment, the user, “Michael Anderson,” states: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted [ ] Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!! [ ].” The comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine UCS notice, posted onMay 29, 2024, regarding oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division unrelated to this proceeding. The posting, entided “The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, will hear oral arguments this morning at 10,” and the comment are both viewable at https://www.facebook.com/NewYorkCourts/.

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